Trapped
by Sleeping-force's-inside
Summary: Collection of One-Shots in 'Greatest Sacrafice'-trilogy. Characters & Genre related to latest installment.
1. Trapped Flyer

**Category:** **Land Before Time**

**Rating:** **T**

**Couples:** **-**

**Warnings:** **AU**

**Chapter:** **1**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Appropriate Copyright-holder, Plot & OC´s © by me**

**Author's Note: Throwback... uh... Day? Felt like putting another LBT-fanfic into the world and decided to follow the Canon & Fanon tradition of Chomper rescuing Flyers. (seriously, what's up with that?) This is part of my Greatest Sacrafice-trilogy, because I can.**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

She regretted her choices. Earlier during the day, a Flyer had come across the surrounding mountains. He had claimed to be of a mixed herd and they had send him inside to request assistance with navigating the mountains safely. She had volunteered, saying that it would be faster if a Flyer crossed the mountain with him rather than having the herd be forced to wait until one of the non-Flyers made their way through the mountains. She left unspoken that most of the non-Flyers still felt leery around the Sharpteeth and Grandma was still recovering from her injuries.

Snarling, she glowered up at the two other Flyers. It was about all she could do, considering the situation.

The moment they had gotten about halfway through the mountains, the other Flyer had suddenly banked away. Before she could have followed him, something had slammed her out of the air. Unable to recatch her wind – mostly because when she was just about to do that, something else had hit her – she had crashed into the ground. Since the ground had been a slope, she had then promptly rolled down a fair bit.

Completely winded, two other Flyers had swooped down and landed on her wings, grounding her quite effectively.

"Hope you don't mind?" Both of them were quite scarred, but she did recognize them.

"What… are you two doing here!?" Saphira was somewhat afraid to move. With the two of them standing on her wings, their foot-claws could do serious damage to the frail membranes if she moved too hard.

"I think you can imagine." The pink Flyer snarled lightly.

"Revenge." Her brother's cowardly minions had returned to the Valley, apparently.

"Astute." The other one leaned down. "We were hoping that those brats would just rush out, considering how long the others took last time to get moving, but you are just fine as well."

"Better even." One of them now got uncomfortably close, his beak so close that she could probably get to it with her own. "Wonder how he'll feel having to explain to the brats you're dead."

Here her eyes did widen in horror. She had heard the stories of Ducky's - and the other children's - predicament back in the day, but this was far worse. "You made that Flyer lure me out here. There was never a farwalker-herd that needed leading in." She looked past them for a trace of the other Flyer, but the encroaching gloom of night made it impossible for her to see anything beyond shadows.

Too late Petrie's mother realized that one of them had left her. Too late did she see the rock falling for her still-spread wing. She could not stop her scream of agony when the small boulder landed, pinning her wing to the ground. Flyer-wings are thin and frail, but the need to feel every small shift in airpressure meant they were disproportionately sensitive. The rock had only hit the membrane, but it might as well have crushed every bone for how much it hurt.

The Flyer on her other wing took flight now, both of them settling on a small outcrop overlooking her. She clawed at the rock, wanting nothing more than to move it, but knowing that even if she managed, her wing would be a mess, perhaps even permanently unuseable. Every small move of her body jostled the trapped wing, sending more pain through her body.

Looking up towards where the other two had flown she could just make out their forms. It was clear that they were waiting for her to do something stupid that would ruin her wing, or for some Sharpteeth to find her. They would be watching her die to probably give her brother a very detailed account. She knew him well enough to know that the guilt would cripple him, especially once he inevitably had to face her children.

Her blood ran cold when hearing snarled Sharptooth-sounds coming from up ahead. Paling, she saw the massive form of a Sharptooth appearing around the corner.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

_"Well, it seems your ears were right." _The massive male Sharptooth looked down his son. _"That is your friend's mother, is she not?"_

_"Yeah." _The young blue-grey Sharptooth scanned the surrounding rocks. _"Though I heard other voices, as well..."_

_"I smell them up ahead. They are hiding."_ Rec came to a brief stop, looking the scene over. The female Flyer was well and truly trapped, a boulder half the size of her body on one of her wings. He knew enough of Flyers to know that she would not be getting out of that predicament without help. _"So, let's train you in some hunting. What does this situation tell us?"_

_"She's trapped. There's no other rocks on the ground, __she didn't just hit a wall and the rock landed unfortunately. __So it... was intentional? " _Chomper whispered, following father as he started moving again. _"Considering the other voices are not helping her, by them?"_

_"Indeed." _The dark-green predator moved closer slowly. He could smell the fear of the dark-blue female. Either she had not recognized them as friends, or she expected they wouldn't mind eating her despite her being a valley-resident. _"I suspect they left her here to be eaten and are only around to watch her die. Well, I will now teach you how to hunt Flyers."_

_"She's a resident." _Despite Chomper not having seen his friends since the debacle a couple moon-changes ago and their friendship teethering on the edge of breaking, he wasn't about to start eating their family-members.

_"Her attackers are not. Look subtly, there are two Flyers just above stretch-height on the wall over there." _Rec didn't look himself. The two Flyers would not fly if they saw that the youngster had seen them, but being noticed by a grown adult would certainly make them flee. _"Now, the most important thing is that unlike most other preys, you cannot afford to mess up a surprise with Flyers."_

_"They'll fly away if you do."_ Chomper realized. _"Which is why you are focusing on Ms. Flyer and not them, isn't it? To keep them from knowing they are your target."_

_"Indeed. They don't know that I don't want to eat her. As such, I can get close enough to strike them without having them flee." _Rec still stalked closer, looking for all intends and purposes as if he was simply measuring how much trouble the trapped Flyer would be. _"On the upside, you can afford to only lightly get them, which is good since they are this high. Why is that, you think?"_

_"Their wings."_ Chomper didn't need to think long about that. _"Mess up their wings and you ground them."_

_"You have good instincts." _The older Sharptooth came to another stop, moving a bit so it seemed he wanted to keep from having to consider the rock when killing her. _"Tell me this though, how would you get those Flyers... working under the assumption you are my size, that is."_

For a bit, Chomper was confused at the question. Until he realized why his father had asked it. The older Sharptooth could not afford to look for a way, since that might reveal to the other two Flyers that they weren't gunning for the trapped female. _"I... I would use the large boulder against that wall. It's roughly kneeheight, so if I am fast enough I can launch myself high enough to get a chance at them."_

_"Nicely spotted." _Rearing back as if to bite down on the trapped female, Rec instead launched himself forward and over her. With the devastating speed their kind could muster, he managed to do so before the two other Flyers could react. By the time they realized what the Sharptooth was doing however, he had managed to catch a wing of both of them. Chomper flinched at their screams when his father's teeth tore through the frail membranes. Gravity did the rest.

"What...?" Trembling and unable to see because of the boulder on her wing, Petrie's mother was thoroughly confused at what was happening.

"Dad's getting a midnightsnack." Chomper informed her over the sounds of his father finishing the two Flyers off. He hoped they weren't people that needed to survive. "Don't move. You'll hurt your wing."

"You... what are you even doing here!?" Not that she wasn't happy that she would not be eaten, but she felt rather overwhelmed.

"I heard your screams when you fell." The young Sharptooth moved back a bit when his father's head appeared over them. The smell of blood was overwhelming. "Hold still, he's going to try and get the stone off."

As if she would have dared moving with the Sharptooth looming overhead. The older male carefully closed his jaws around the rock, making sure to not catch any of the Flyer and lifted it away from her.

"Aargh!" Another wave of pain nearly knocked her out when blood could finally fill the membrane again. Trembling, she resisted the urge to curl up around it, reasoning that touching it would make it hurt even more. Taking several laboured breaths, she managed to keep from cursing. Mostly. "Damn them!"

Capable of it now, she looked over to the two others. Rec certainly had not held back.

"Who were they?" Chomper asked, having moved back to his father now that she was free.

"They wanted revenge on the valley and my brother." She struggled to her feet only to find that that had been too much moving her wing. Pain overwhelmed her and she collapsed.

_"Yeah, that was to be expected."_ Rec leaned down further, studying the fainted form at his feet. _"Chomper, I know healing, but hardly anything about wings, for obvious reason. The Valley must have a healer. Fetch them."_

_"Are... are you sure?" _The young Sharptooth looked unsure. _"Tria will have told them what I did to get her. I doubt I can convince any of them to just... follow me out of the Valley at night."_

_"It's better than me carrying in an unconscious, wounded Flyer while covered in blood."_ The older one pointed out. _"Go to Grandma, I'm sure she can convince them. And hurry. I feel this has done more damage than readily visible."_

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"G...Grandma?" Chomper carefully touched the old female, hoping that if someone else woke up first they'd at least give him a chance to explain.

The old female shifted, eyes opening as she looked for what had woken her. "Chomper? What are you doing here?" Looking at her family, she slowly rose to her feet and walked a bit to put some distance between them. "Is everything alright?"

"With my family, yes." Chomper flinched a bit when their voices - or her moving - woke the other old longneck. Grandpa lifted his neck to look at the two of them. "We kinda need a healer outside. Quickish."

"Your father is a healer." She pointed out, lowering her head to his level.

_"It's Miss Flyer. She got a boulder on her wing. It was intentional by some other Flyers." _Chomper switched to Sharptooth to convey the statement, too unsure how the other Leafeater would react to hearing something like that. _"Dad's real concerned about the damage it might have done."_

"Dear?" Grandpa rose to his feet now, joining the both of them. He was smart enough to know that whatever Chomper had just told his mate, he would not have liked hearing.

She moved her head close to his and though Chomper saw her lips move, he couldn't hear a word of what she said. He did manage to see Grandpa's reaction to it though. "I'll get her. Meet me at the Rise-exit."

"Come." Grandma nudged Chomper lightly. "Grandpa will fetch the healer. I wouldn't be able to make the journey if I also need to walk that."

"I... yeah." He followed her, looking up to where he could just make out the fresh scars of his father's bite.

"What happened?" Now that they had a good bit of distance between them and the sleeping dinosaurs, she was talking at normal volume again.

"I don't quite know the details." He walked alongside her. "I woke up since I was thirsty and on the way to the drinkinghole I heard screams. I thought they sounded familiar, so I woke my father - my parents don't like it if I walk around too much at night alone - and we headed to where I heard them from. We found Petrie's mother with a rock on her wing and two Flyers who were just watching, clearly intending to not do anything to protect her. She said they were out for revenge, but passed out from pain before she could tell us anything else."

"I see." Grandma Longneck tilted her head lightly while trying to remember if she knew any Flyers that would hate Petrie's mother this much. "Could you tell how they looked?"

"Errr... One was pinkish, I think. The other brown?" He honestly had only caught some glimpses before his father had killed them. "Both had tails?"

Neither of them spoke after that, waiting at the exit of the Great Valley for Grandpa and the Valley-healer. Chomper's eyes widened a touch when seeing Ducky's mother follow the old Longneck. He had never realized she was the healer.

"Sorry, I needed to bring the kids to someone else to sleep." The Swimmer excused their late arrival. He could tell that she was tense, despite the two Longnecks that would join her in leaving the Valley.

"Of course." The four headed outside, making their way through the Beyond. "Did Grandpa tell you?"

"After we delivered the children." The old male answered the question. "She was watching the young flyers, after all. I felt it better they don't find out what happened to their mother until we know more." He looked down at Chomper, who was leading the way.

The young Sharptooth took a deep breath, repeating what he had told Grandma, this time adding the description of the two Flyers without prompting.

"Pterano's... lackies?" Duckie's mother offered after a short silence. She looked quite angry at the memory of the two.

"I was thinking the same thing." Grandma answered. "I'll have Rec show me their bodies come morning."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Well?" Rec had taken the unconscious Flyer back to the Sharptooth-cave for safety, so everyone was currently gathered there. The two Longnecks had to wait outside of the cave, otherwise it would get overly full.

"From what I can tell in this lighting, it's just badly bruised." The Swimmer softly stated. "At least there are no wounds, and I cannot feel any breaks in her bones. She'll need lots of rest. But I dare not say more without having a chance to look at it during the day." She looked down on the form at her feet, then glanced over to the Sharpteeth further into the cave. "We should get her back to the Valley, probably."

"Oh dear, more walking." Grandma took a deep breath. "Perhaps I should have stayed in the Valley for this."

"I am sure you could stay here?" Grandpa answered her, looking her over.

"I'll manage." She watched as the Swimmer carefully lifted the Flyer on her mate's back. _"Thank you, Rec."_

_"It's not like Flyers have that much meat." _He offered with a chuckle. _"Need an escort?"_

_"We'll manage."_

The three leafeaters slowly started making their way back through the mountains. "Let us know if you need a rest, dear." Grandpa almost demanded. His mate was still suffering from the bite on her shoulders and was prone to having pain-attacks if she overexerted herself.

"I will. But I think we're walking slow enough where it won't be an issue." She assured him, walking beside him. "I might start resting the moment we get into the Valley, though, just so you know. Just to be safe."

"Quite alright." He moved just a touch closer. "It's probably best if we do that anyway. The flyers are staying at our place currently, and I don't think it'll be good for them to wake up with their mother like this."

"If you're up for it, we could go to my nesting-place." The Swimmer spoke up, looking at the two Longnecks. "That way, I have not far too walk if I find that she does need herbs or the like." She briefly walked more vertically to have another look at the Flyer on his back.

"We'll do that then." They continued in silence after that, picking their way carefully so that Grandpa didn't need to jostle his passenger too much.

He was quite grateful that his mate managed to make the trip without having any attacks, even managing to get back to the Longneck nesting-site. By that point the night was almost over. "This is either going to be a day for sleeping in, or one with little sleeping." He looked at her with faint amusement.

"I vote sleeping in." She settled back onto the ground, looking the veritable collection of children over. "I can blame my injuries for that."

"I'll be blaming our connectiveness then." He chuckled lightly, briefly resting his head against hers.


	2. Why you and not her?

**Category: Land Before Time**

**Rating: T**

**Couples: -**

**Warnings: AU**

**Chapter: 1**

**Copyright: Characters & places © By Appropriate Copyright-holder, Plot & OC´s © by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The first night she had been back in the Valley, she had simply been too asleep for much interaction with her family. The second night she and Grandpa Longneck had had a date - something they had not had for ages - so by the time they returned to the Longneck nesting-area, their family had been too asleep. During the days, it seemed Littlefoot was riding highs of joy at his reunited family.

It was only at their third night that the grown-ups realized he was perhaps not riding a high of joy, but was using excessive joy to suppress something else.

"Are you quite alright, Littlefoot?" Grandma tilted her head lightly at the form of her biological grandchild. She knew him well enough to be able to tell that something was bothering him a lot. She was flanked by the two adult males, Shorty curled up near Bron's side. The young male only briefly glanced at her before turning away.

"I'm fine."

"That tone of voice makes me doubt it." Grandpa leaned over, stretching his neck to just beside his grandson. "Won't you confide in us, little one?"

"It's fine." His tone of voice was just a touch too snappish to convince anyone nearby of the statement's truth.

Sighing, the old female rose to her feet, making her way closer to the boy. "I assume this is about this entire mess I just came out of?" She settled down beside him, essentially boxing him in with the two other grown-ups. Even in the gloom of the encroaching night they could tell he flinched at that statement. "It's only natural to be upset about it, Littlefoot. We all still are." She looked at her mate briefly, who almost outright refused to leave her side for any length of time, unlike before her 'death' where they simply felt no need to seperate most of the time but certainly and easily would if the need arose. Bron likewise lingered around her far more than on his previous visits to the Valley, where he had spend more time with his sons. "You thought I was dead, after all." She stopped herself from adding 'like your last mother-figure; your actual mother'.

"It... it's not that." The brown youngster finally admitted. "I am happy that you are back..."

"I'd be upset if you weren't." She chuckled softly, smiling a bit when despite everything Littlefoot also chuckled. "So what is it then?"

"It's a bad thought." He sighed, turning away from her.

"All the more reason to share it, son." Bron spoke up. "Do you want to talk about it with me alone? Or Papa Longneck?" He carefully omitted his mother-in-law, figuring that considering she was at the very middle of the mess, she'd be the one Littlefoot would object the most to.

The group descended into silence after that. When Littlefoot next spoke, it was so quiet the others only barely heard him. "Why you and not her?"

"Pardon?" Grandma leaned down a bit, only to recoil when her grandchild almost screamed the next sentence at her.

"Why did you get saved, but not mother!?" He was breathing heavily, tears forming in his eyes as he stared up at the flabbergasted female. "Why you and not her?"

The rest of the family was equally flabbergasted. Grandpa made to answer, only to be cut of by his wife's shake of the head.

"To be honest, I asked myself that." She leaned down a bit. "And not only now. Both Grandpa and I wondered this after the Great Earthshake..." Grandma sighed, closing her eyes. "Why did we lose our daughter and grandchild? Oh, we hoped you two were alive and just taking a different way..."

"But with the way things were back then that seemed like almost idle hope." Grandpa added. "I beat myself up quite often at not joining her in fetching you when we noticed you were gone, especially after you arrived in the Valley and told us she had died then."

"And of course I wondered how I managed to end up with the one Sharptooth-family that would hesitate to eat me." The old female continued. "Not to mention have a healer among their ranks... What are the odds of that?" She looked up at the sky. "As I was recovering, I quite often asked myself why things had ended up this way." She looked down on her grandson. "In short, I cannot say, Littlefoot. I do not know why me and not her."

He flinched at that statement, looking away again.

"But even if I do not know why not her, I do know why I survived." The old Longneck-female looked in the general direction of where she recalled the Sharptooth-cave to be. Chomper's family was still cleaning up their new territory of unwanted other Sharpteeth and had yet to show themselves in the Valley again. "I do know it wasn't chance they were there. It wasn't chance that their care was enough to save me, considering my injuries." She looked at her own body, littered with scars. Closing her eyes, she thought back to that first night Chomper had been with his family and what she had overheard then. "Because if your mother could not be with you, she'd damn well make sure you had the next best thing she could give you in her place; me."

"What?" It was Bron that spoke, but Grandma decided to ignore him as she leaned down to her grandson.

"Do you recall what you told us about your journey here? Particularly the end?"

"About... about how there was this cloud shaped like mom that showed the last bit of the way into the Valley?"

"That one, yes." She smiled warmly at him. "When Chomper arrived, he and his parents started talking about things. He told me they had followed the scent of a rotting carcass into Red Claw's territory, being starving at that point. They never found it, though. The scent soon disappeared to be replaced by the scent of a dying longneck... me." Now she flinched at the reminder exactly how close she had come to joining her daughter permanently in the Great Beyond. If Chomper's family had just been a bit slower, a bit more hesitant or less caring they might well have been too late to save her. "They recognized me and decided to save me. But I was still in a horrible state and... well, treating me wasn't easy." She decided not to mention how she had been told that Rec had been reluctant to help her in the beginning. That might not go over well with her loved ones. "That changed during that big storm... the one with the sky-water that would not stop and all..."

She noticed all four were listening closely now. Smiling, she continued her story. "There is... was a tree right in front of the cave we were in. Apparently, Tyra - Chomper's mother - was keeping watch one night while Rec - Chomper's father - was tending me. There were flashes of sky-fire regularly. Then she noticed it... the shadow thrown by the tree did not fit. What should have been a tree-shadow, was a longneck-shadow." Her smile turned melancholy. "It happened a few times and when skyfire struck and set it ablaze it stayed that way. Though there were no longnecks to throw the shadow, for a good while it looked like a longneck was standing there, looking into the cave. Looking at me. The shadow only turned normal when Rec was done tending me."

"You mean...?" Littlefoot seemed mesmerized now.

"I am very sure that your mother was that shadow." She confirmed his suspicion. "She saved me, little one. Because no matter what, she'd not put you - and your grandpa, I would like to think - through losing another loved one again, if she could help it. And help it she did."

The little one's eyes filled with tears and within moments he was bawling, almost throwing himself at his grandmother. She just soothed him, letting him press himself against her with as much force as he wanted and needed.

When he finally calmed down, she picked him up and returned to her place between Bron and Grandpa, where she placed him beside his brother.

"Was all that true?" Grandpa softly whispered when the two boys had drifted off into sleep.

"Yes." She smiled gently at him, face softening at the memory. "Seems she finally decided to make up for all the headaches she used to give us when she was little." Both elders chuckled fondly at that. They knew exactly where Littlefoot got his problematic streak from and it certainly wasn't only Bron's side of the family.

"I think saving her mother from beyond her own death seems a good way to do that." Bron offered gently with a small smile.

"I guess that means you really need to up your game to make up for all the headaches you caused us." Grandpa pointed out to his son-in-law.


	3. Pterano is so confused

**Category:** **Land Before Time**

**Rating:** **T**

**Couples:** **-**

**Warnings:** **AU**

**Chapter:** **1**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Appropriate Copyright-holder, Plot & OC´s © by me **

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"_All I am saying is; don't try to eat a Longneck __if you get the chance this time around__.__"_ Grandma chuckled just a bit, looking at the female Sharptooth opposite her.

"_Isn't that herd the one that tried to kill my son?__"_ Tyra demanded dryly, looking out into the Mysterious Beyond as they talked. The elder Longneck female had arrived just a short while beforehand; word had arrived in the Valley that the Old One – and Doc, for added trouble – would be arriving in there in a few days. She had decided it would be better to warn the resident Sharpteeth so that no accidents would occur.

It shouldn't have surprised her that since their arrival, the elder Sharpteeth had caught up with their youngest child and said child told them about just about everything that had happened to him while in the Valley.

"_It is, but if we didn't give chances to those that tried to kill us, you and Rec also wouldn't be here." _She countered calmly. _"Rec did try to kill my husband once, if I recall… and I'll spare us both the recounting of what happened with old Threehorn."_

"_Flatteeth are so sensitive." _Chomper's mother joked softly. _"We'll try to resist our urges for large dinner. Any idea from which direction they'll come? From what I gather, it would simply be best if we don't encounter them at all."_

"_Much appreciated and I am afraid I do not. Last time they came from the opposite side of the Valley, but that doesn't have to mean anything for this time." _The older female laid down on a moderately comfortable looking patch of ground. She'd never understand how the other could lean against the rocks like she did. _"Of course, knowing how things go around here, you'll run into them regardless."_

"_Very true." _The green female smirked a touch. _"I'd like to see them hunt me though."_

"_Like to see who hunt you?"_ A third voice joined them, the dark form of the male Sharptooth approaching.

"_The Longneck's family." _His mate calmly informed him. _"Apparently they are coming for a visit so she felt she ought to warn us."_

"_I was here for the last couple Cold Times, you know." _The Leafeater rose to her feet to return to the Valley. _"I'll keep them from doing something stupid, but I am too old to do the same for you three."_

"_Duly noted." _They watched her go again, the Bright Circle slowly starting its' descent in front of her. The two partners didn't linger long themselves, soon returning to their cave where they lived with their two children.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Surprisingly, there was a third visitor heading for the Valley from the same general direction as Grandma Longneck; Pterano's five Cold-time exile was over and he was flying high above a ravine-floor. In the distance, still half-hiding the rising Night Circle were the mountains that made up the wall surrounding the Valley. If everything went well, he'd arrive there in two days. Of course, it was the question if things would go well. He had been set upon by sharpteethed flyers during the day, forcing him to make a wide berth resulting in what seemed to work out to an entire day of added flying. Considering it had been a while since he had had a chance to drink, it might well prove fatal if he didn't find some other water-source soon.

The problem was that he couldn't spot any water from where he was flying. In the end, all he could do was take a rest and hope that daylight would reveal some source of water.

The elder male flyer managed to reach the Great Valley, even with having found no water between the ravine and the valley. He did nearly crash into the water though, exhausted and probably dehydrated.

"I am surprised old Threehorn isn't here yet to demand I leave." The brown form was curled up on the pond's edge. His sister was beside him, having seen him all but fall from the air.

"Let's say that some new residents have taught him not to be so… judgemental." Grandpa Longneck chuckled softly, looking at his wife. "You'll hear about it sooner or later, no doubt. It is quite a story."

"Very true." Saphira, Pterano's sister, nodded lightly. "Hopefully before they visit."

"They're staying outside the Valley while the Old One is visiting." Grandma assured her, looking out over to the side from where her family-members would be coming soon. "You have plenty of time to update your brother."

"Sounds ominous." Pterano mused, dragging himself up.

"Where do you think I got these scars from?" The female Longneck shifted a bit, showing the silvery lines covering just about her entire body to the flyer. "As Grandpa said, it is quite the story. I am looking forward to explaining these to my family."

"Do I want to know what happened here?" Pterano later asked his sister after they had returned to the Flyer-nest.

"You'll have to. I'll tell you the short version now and I guess you can ask the others for a longer one if you want to." She smiled lightly, looking out over the valley. The moment her children had noticed their uncle had returned and looked half-starved, they had shot off to get him all kinds of nice food. "Did Petrie ever tell you about his friend Chomper when you were last here?"

"I… don't think he did?"

"Shortly after the children arrived here, they found an egg out in the Mysterious Beyond. Something about thinking it was an egg stolen from Mrs. Swimmer. Anyway, they brought it back and it hatched. Into a Sharptooth. One of the large ones… once he grows up, that is." Saphira chuckled lightly at his flabbergasted face. "After some shenanigans, said Sharptooth returned to his parents. After some more shenanigans, he then came to live in the Valley on account of Red Claw."

"I did hear about him." Pterano mused, curling up comfortably.

"Yeah." She leaned against the cave-wall. "A couple Cold Times ago, there was an Earthshake, resulting in Grandma being nearly killed by Sharpteeth outside of the Valley. She was saved by said Chomper's family and they later helped us kill Red Claw."

"That's what happened to him!?"

"Yup." The blue flyer smiled gently. "After that, they took up residence around the Valley and now form something of a buffer around it against Sharpteeth that rather want us for dinner."

"Wow." The brown male blinked a few times. "And you guys just... trust them?"

"Yes." His sister gestured out into the Valley. "Threehorn had plenty complaints, but even he got around to it now." She snorted. "Granted, it was by absolutely sending Chomper's father into a rage, but..." By now, that episode was more of a fun anecdote to the residents of the Valley, considering no harm had been done – Grandma refused to attribute her bite and the lingering issues to the Sharpteeth. "By now they are just like other residents. Petrie and his friends are even learning their language now to make sure it doesn't come down to only Grandma and Chomper for translation."

"She speaks Sharptooth?" He had been in the Mysterious Beyond long enough to have realized that the meateaters had their own language, but he had never known the elder longneck-female knew it.

"No one is entirely sure how and when she learned, but yes." Saphira nodded.

"And that… just works?" He was very confused. He was in fact quite close to demanding why they would trust the Sharpteeth, but figured that after all these Cold Times they had to have proved themselves.

"They regularly helped us and they take care to only eat the absolute necessary, shall we say." She sat down beside him. "They protected the children several times and outright saved some of us several times." Taking a deep breath, she opened one of her wings, flexing the thin membrane. "Including me."

Here he didn't even say anything any more, just staring at his sister like she sprouted another head.

"You remember those… flyers that accompanied you back at your last visit?" At his slow nod, she continued, now looking more uncomfortable. "They tricked me out of the Valley and managed to trap me with a substantial boulder on my wing..." One of her fingers trailed a thin line of scarred tissue. "Chomper and his father were the first to find me, rather than the unfriendly Sharpteeth those two were no doubt hoping for." Her eyes narrowed as she spoke. "They had every intention to watch me die."

"Sister… I..." He was stopped by her raised hand from saying anything else.

"I do not blame you for that. But I will defend the Sharpteeth right along Grandma, just so you know. I owe them that much, since much like her they could have killed and eaten me with none the wiser and didn't." Petrie's mother looked to the entrance when her children started returning. "Once you have recovered, how about I'll fly you past them?"

"I… sure." He did have his doubts about his things, but figured that his continued stay in the Valley did depend on how well he'd conform to the line. Reaching for some of the treesweets the youngsters had brought him, he continued talking once she had send them away again to give him some calm to recover. "I feel like visitors very much do not belief this."

"Very true." She took herself one of them as well. "It was pretty touch and go for a while. Things settled after Threehorn calmed down about it."

"I am so confused about how that even happened."


	4. Meeting your friend's family - part 1

**Category:** **Land Before Time**

**Rating:** **T**

**Couples:** **-**

**Warnings:** **AU**

**Chapter:** **Part 1 of Two-Shots**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Appropriate Copyright-holder, Plot & OCs © by me **

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"_I would like words with the longnecks, though.__"_ Rec mused, looking at his mate as they ate. The form before them was a Swimmer that had 'gifted' himself, as the saying went. 'Gifting' had become something of a thing after Chomper's family had properly settled down around the Valley, where residents of said Valley would go out and let themselves be killed. The Sharpteeth trusted Grandma Longneck to make sure that only those who had good reason – sickness, very old age or the like – would be among those. This Swimmer had been one of injury; an accident in some rocky part of the Valley had left his leg with a gaping wound and despite the best attempts of the Valley-healer (who had spend quite some time also exchanging knowledge with Rec over the Cold Times) the wound had gotten infected. By the time everyone had given up on a chance of recovery, the green form had barely been able to make the journey out of the Valley. As such, the mercifully quick kill had happened relatively near an exit.

"_From what I gathered, that'd end with someone dead.__" _Tyra smirked lightly at him, tearing a piece of their dinner. _"Also, if White Star doesn't hurry, we'll have eaten all the best bits."_

"_Unlike Chomper, who can eat the remnants of those.__" _The dark-green form chuckled. _"Why do I feel that if she were yours, you'd be putting aside some for her?"_

"_Obviously.__" _The light-green form purred at him. "She's old enough to hunt her own, if need be. He can't."

The flirting did distract them somewhat from their surroundings. Normally this was no problem, since they were the single most dangerous Sharpteeth around, especially this close to their centre of their territory.

However, there was one thing even they needed to fear even here; large flattooth-herds that did not know the arrangement of the Valley with their sharptoothed neighbours.

"_DAD!__"_ He jumped instinctively at his daughter's roar, which carried him out of range of the long tail which meant to wrap around his neck.

"_Lovely.__" _Tyra snarled at his attacker, even as her husband needed a moment to get his overview of the situation. The pale-green Sharptooth was halfway up a mountain, having roared down the warning. He might have actually cursed in a way the Longneck-female would not have appreciated when seeing who had attacked him; a Longneck, followed by an entire herd.

"_I think we ought to retreat.__"_ His wife murmured.

"_Probably wise.__"_ He actually chuckled a touch at the predicament. _"Last to the friendly Longneck dies to these?"_

She answered with a flat stare, but did turn around and start running. Up above, White Star followed them safely out of reach. Neither of them understood a word of what the Longnecks were saying - or rather screaming - behind them, both knew the general gist. They were heading full-speed directly along the path into the Valley, after all.

Sadly, unlike their children the two elders could not keep up a sprint for long. Though they kept up a good jog, their head-start did no longer increase. Luckily for them, Grandma Longneck had been near to their exit, still on the way back from assisting the Swimmer out of the Valley.

Rec nearly laughed at her flabbergasted expression at seeing the two of them rushing into the Valley. Her husband and most of the small children, conveniently nearby, seemed equally confused.

"_Mom? Dad?__" _Chomper rushed towards them. _"Are you alright!?"_

"_Remember what you said about your family?__"_ Tyra dodged around the elder female, panting as she came to a stop between the two adult Longnecks.

"_They came from this side of the Valley?__"_ The grey female grew more amused.

"_Interrupted dinner, indeed.__"_ Rec muttered somewhat darkly, leaning down to his son. _"Never fun to have to run from a Longneck-herd."_

"_Yeah, I know that feeling.__"_ Chomper chuckled a bit.

"Dear?" After his wife and the children, Grandpa Longneck was among those the most at ease with the Sharpteeth, but having two of them essentially hide behind him was rather strange.

"The Old One's herd – probably with Doc – came upon them during dinner." Grandma laughed softly, turning a touch to face the coming herd sideways.

"Oh dear." Her husband actually snorted at that, joining her to form something of a barrier across the path. "This is going to get worse than with Threehorn, no?"

"Probably." Littlefoot pointed out, remaining between the legs of his grandparents. "Should we get some more grown-ups?"

"Let's hope it doesn't go that far." The elder Longnecks mused. They remembered the story of how the herd had been with Chomper, figuring it would be worse with Chomper's parents. But they also hoped dearly that a Longneck-fight could be prevented.


	5. Search for a Father

**Category:** **Land Before Time**

**Rating:** **T**

**Couples:** **-**

**Warnings:** **AU**

**Chapter:** **One-shot**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Appropriate Copyright-holder, Plot & OCs © by me, ****Taunt by Rhombus**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The death of Red Claw had shaken things up badly. Word on exactly what had happened was sparse and all any of the Sharpteeth in the region knew was that a pair of different Sharpteeth had first challenged him for a slice of his territory near the Leafeater-haven of the Great Valley… and within the season, said pair, reinforced by their half-grown daughter had killed him and taken his entire territory.

Everyone was wondering how they had managed it, especially since it had been common knowledge that he had all but coerced an entire Fast Biter-pack into his service. Said pack was also completely unaccounted for.

What Sharpteeth survived the pair's purge of their new territory were of no help; most of them had only learned of Red Claw's demise when the pair had staked their claim on his central lands with no opposition. Some of them had seen the pale-grey corpse the family had feasted upon.

Taunt was one of those that had only heard rumours, being too far from Red Claw's territory with his pack to be directly impacted by those developments. While most of the Sharpteeth had simply been relieved at Red Claw's demise – the pair seemed perfectly fine with hunting away any rivals, unlike their predecessor – he was partly worried. He knew for a fact that his father had always been at Red Claw's side. What had happened to the elder Fast Biter? The fact that an entire pack was unaccounted for was beyond worrying not to mention telling, but part of him demanded certainty. Needed certainty…

The rest of the pack declared him several forms of insane and stupid, figuring that while the new rulers of the region were content to hunt away those that had already been present, they might well not be so forgiving to someone that actively invaded their territory.

Which is why he was currently sneaking into the territory on his own, slowly realizing that he really had not thought things through. For one, it had been changes of the Night Circle by now, so finding his father's corpse was practically impossible and just going up to them was probably some form of suicidal. Unless Thud had managed to evade them for all this time, this probably was insane and stupid.

The universe blatantly agreed with that when his worries about the potential suicidality of the endeavour resulted in him actually ending up in the nearly worst situation. He had been half-following a scent-trail he thought might have been his father – it was certainly old enough – when a rock gave way under his feet. He managed to land somewhat safely on the ground, rather than breaking every bone in his body, only to find that he had half-dropped into someone's dinner. Rather, four someone's dinner, three of whom were looming over him.

He would never admit he squeaked.

"Didn't we hunt everyone away around here?" The light-green female looked at the dark-green male, eyes narrowed.

"I double-checked." He concurred, prowling closer.

Taunt regretted every choice he ever made that had resulted in him ending up boxed in by three annoyed and-or angry Greater Sharpteeth. "I… I'm just… passing through." Short of dashing at them and hoping he could get between them faster than they could react, he was stuck. Considering they had managed to deal with an entire pack somehow, he figured he'd not make the dash.

"You're an idiot then." The pale-green half-grown female muttered, the grey hatchling having jumped behind her at the intrusion. "Any closer to the centre of our territory and you're in the darn Leafeater Valley."

"I… I… was not paying close attention to that." He probably was making things worse, but concentrating while her father was getting dangerously close was quite hard. He could potentially jump him, do some damage, but that would definitely end with him dead.

"And here I thought most grow beyond that after hatchling-stage." Red eyes were trailing over the rocks above.

"Why are you here?" The father of the family demanded, jaws close enough to strike in a moment's notice. The scent of blood surrounded him at this point. "No one sane would pass through the centre of a Sharptooth-territory." The taller male's breath was almost hot.

Taunt would forever remember the moment when the father recognized his scent as something antagonistic. Despite him not saying a word, the storm of emotions alerted the two females, who needed just a couple deep breaths to confirm what their family-member had already noticed. Only the hatchling seemed not to make the connection, perhaps because he dared not come too close. He was about the only one who could be in danger by the Fast Biter.

"Looking for your father, I take it?" The pale-green female almost purred it. "I can oblige." Her almost Fast-biter-like grin made it quite obvious who at the very least had his father's body for dinner, if not killed the green Fast Biter. He should have expected it, to be entirely honest.

"White Star." The mother stopped the half-grown female. "Rec."

"You're advocating letting him live?" Taunt honestly wondered how the father – whose name was Rec, apparently – got that simply from being addressed, but dared not ask. "Dare I ask why?"

"A warning." The mother purred. "Tell you what, son of Thud, if you could do us a favour, we will not make you end up like your father."

"Really?" The younger female – White Star was quite a fitting name, now that he thought about it – muttered. "Let's just bite his head off."

"He is just worried about his father." The hatchling finally spoke up, creeping closer. "Isn't that exactly why you guys came here?"

"I'll do it." Taunt dared answer the elder female's offer, feeling that with two on his side he could dare be bold enough to speak up without being spoken to. A deadly glare send him scurrying back towards the rock-wall.

"What kind of warning would surpass us killing Red Claw and his entire collection of lackeys?" Rec demanded sharply.

"Do you really want to deal with weekly challenges for this territory?" She countered. "Fast Biter. One chance. You get your arse out of this territory and never come back. While you are at it, you can spread the word about a cute little arrangement we have here."

Now that seemed to set her family off, though all three of them seemed unwilling to actually address whatever was a problem with that.

"Bad timing?" The voice was unmistakably speaking Sharptooth, but the sight was something else distinctly not Sharptooth.

"Sort off." The elder male darkly answered the new arrival; an absolute massive form of a Longneck. Taunt felt his brain derail somewhat at that. "We have something of a… visitor."

White Star rolled her eyes. "Well, he might as well now. Idiot or not, it doesn't take much to make a connection with the Longneck here and speaking Sharptooth."

Taunt met the brown eyes of the Longneck, who was meandering up as if she was not horribly outnumbered and outmatched. There could only be one reason for her calm. "You're allied with the Leafeaters!?"

"We watch their son regularly." The large grey shape answered evenly. "Now, I do believe you said you had secured the vicinity of the Valley?"

"Ah, you know youngsters, curiosity kills them." The light-green female chuckled. "But he's going to be a smart youngster and booking it, isn't he?"

"Uh… yeah… yeah… I'll…. I'll do that. I'll just be… going…" Before any could decide differently, he dove under the annoyed elder and started sprinting in the only direction available. When he turned and looked back from a good distance away, the group seemed to be in deep discussion.

He did a double-take at the sight, the Longneck standing out like few others would and doubted anyone would just believe him on this.


	6. Meeting your friend's family - part 2

**Category:**** Land Before Time**

**Rating:**** T**

**Couples:**** -**

**Warnings:**** AU**

**Chapter:** **Part ****2 ****of Two-Shot**

**Copyright:**** Characters & places © By Appropriate Copyright-holder, Plot & OC´s © by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The herd came upon them quickly. Longnecks could gain surprising amounts of speed if they felt the need. Two adult Sharpteeth – and one nearly-adult one – heading straight into the Valley-sanctuary of the Leafeaters certainly warranted it.

They were very surprised however when no screams greeted them upon catching up with the Meateaters, despite said Meateaters having caught up with some of the residents.

"Cousin." Grandma Longneck broke the tense silence. "I see you met the neighbours." Behind her and her husband the two massive green forms were looking at them with narrowed eyes.

"Neighbours!?" The Old One heard her voice break as she spoke, eyes fixed on one of the last members of her generation. She knew of the other female's near-death, had even heard of exactly how bad she looked now, but to actually see her now with a Sharptooth looming overhead was more than a little discombobulating. It didn't help her anything that Chomper was growling and snarling underneath the dark-green male.

"Yes." Grandpa Longneck calmly confirmed. "You remember Chomper, I believe? These are his parents. Perhaps you also saw his elder sister?"

"They live around the Valley nowadays as a buffer against bad Sharpteeth." Littlefoot added.

"You entrust your safety to Sharpteeth!?" Doc snarled, eyes narrowed.

"Yes." Littlefoot's grandparents answered evenly. "So if you could not attack residents of the Valley, we'd appreciate it."

"They are not residents." It was equal amounts of disbelief and worry about their mental well-being that filled those few words.

"They are." To the children down below the shift was imperceptible, but the grown-ups with their heightened vantage-points could tell. The two elder Longnecks shifted their weights just so, moving that required bit to maximize their tails' swing-power and reach.

"_You don't need to fight them over us.__" _Tyra spoke up, having faced enough Longnecks to know what the two between her and the herd were threatening with their movements. _"We can't ask that of you. They are family."_

"_You are not asking." _The old female countered kindly, eyes meeting the blood-red ones of the Sharptooth behind her. She pointedly ignored the expressions of disbelief of the herd, unlike her husband who was sizing them up still.

"You can't be serious, cousin." The Old One spoke up, sounding almost pleading. Much like her kin, she knew the consequences if Longnecks starting fighting one-another.

"We are." Said cousin's mate answered her instead. "This valley is based on cooperation, that includes all residents. Even the meat-eating ones. Especially these ones..." For the first time since the herd's arrival he now looked back to the two green forms behind him.

"Why!? Their kind killed several of your children!"

"They saved me, cousin. I owe them a life-debt." Grandma's tail whipped through the air, an unfortunate branch not surviving the collision.

"So do I." Grandpa pointed out. "They saved my heart; I can never repay that."

"Let's not go into the times they saved the children separately of that..." Grandma took a deep breath. "You have missed quite some developments. Would it not be better if you first get all the facts?" The words were unfailingly polite, no one would deny that, but the tone was just that tiny bit threatening. "You were wrong about their son, and right now it doesn't look like we need to start fighting them, now does it?"

"_I'd like to fight them." _Rec muttered ever so faintly. _"They tried to kill my son… and me."_

"_To be fair, we could make a case that you tried to kill me as well..." _Chomper countered his father with a chuckle.

"_That was your mother, not me."_

"_Can you two not? They are already on edge." _Tyra growled at the two males of her family._ "I can do without a Longneck-fight, can't you?"_

"_Your growling is helping a lot, dear." _Grandma pointed out. _"And you are not fighting my family, thank you very much."_

"_It certainly looks like it could get to that." _White Star approached through the foliage, joining her parents.

"No one is fighting anyone." Grandma switched back to Leafeater, addressing the other Longnecks just as much as Chomper's family through his translation. "We all have better things to do, I am sure. Cousin, we can either talk or fight and at this point, it is all up to you."

"Let's talk then."


End file.
